VeriSign Authentic Sites - Recognizing the Real Thing

VeriSign Digital ID Authentic Sites have made security a priority and have been through a formal verification process, assuring that the organization running the site has the authority to use the name represented by the site. Verify that the site is authenticated by a VeriSign Digital ID by checking:

This page's URL. URLs for secure pages begin with https instead of the standard http.
Your browser's secure connection indicators. If you are using Netscape Navigator, look for a solid blue line at the top of the page and a connected key in the lower left corner. In Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you will see a padlock in the lower right corner. Other browsers have similar visual cues.
The site's certificate. To verify that the site is using a VeriSign Digital ID, view the site's certificate from your web browser. For servers using VeriSign Digital IDs, the dialog box will say that the certificate is issued by the Secure Server Certification Authority under the RSA Data Security root.

In Netscape Navigator, select Document Info from the View Menu.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer, select Properties from the File Menu and then select the Security tab.

Connecting to a site in secure mode not only provides assurance of the site's authenticity, it enables encryption for information exchanged between the site and your browser.

Internet Security - The Need for Electronic Identification

Why is Internet security and website authentication so important? When you conduct face-to-face transactions, you rely on visual and environmental cues to establish the identity of the person with whom you are dealing. For example, when you purchase something in a department store, you trust the cashier with your credit card because you recognize them as a store employee by their presence at the cash register and the name tag that they wear. On the Internet, the traditional environmental and physical cues you use to determine someone's identity don't work--you can't always rely on the words or pictures displayed on a site or sent in an e-mail message to identify an organization or individual. Without a secure means of verifying identities, you risk sending valuable information to unknown servers, receiving corrupted or altered data, or even being impersonated.

VeriSign Digital IDs - The Secure Solution

VeriSign, the only company focused 100 percent on digital authentication products and services, provides its customers with the confidence necessary to conduct electronic commerce worldwide. Using today's strongest cryptographic techniques, VeriSign Digital IDs provide a trusted means of authenticating the identity of each party in an electronic transaction.

A VeriSign Class 3 Server Digital ID only assures that the "proof of right to use" the organizational name has been verified. VeriSign does not make any warranties or representations regarding the organization or the site's content or links.

For more information, visit VeriSign's Website or the Authentic Site Index.